Expandable medical device with beneficial agent in openings

ABSTRACT

An expandable medical device having a plurality of elongated struts, the plurality of elongated struts being joined together by ductile hinges to form a substantially cylindrical device which is expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter. The plurality of struts and ductile hinges are arranged to improve the spatial distribution of the struts which is particularly important when delivering beneficial agents with the struts. The improved strut arrangement expands to a substantially parallelogram shape for improved beneficial agent distribution to the surrounding tissue. A beneficial agent may be loaded into openings within the struts or coated onto the struts for delivery to the tissue.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of pending U.S. application Ser. No.09/948,987, filed Sep. 7, 2001, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/314,360, filed Aug. 20, 2001, eachof which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to tissue-supporting medical devices, andmore particularly to expandable, non-removable devices that areimplanted within a bodily lumen of a living animal or human to supportthe organ and maintain patency, and that have improved spatialdistribution for delivery of a beneficial agent to the interventionsite.

2. Summary of the Related Art

In the past, permanent or biodegradable devices have been developed forimplantation within a body passageway to maintain patency of thepassageway. These devices are typically introduced percutaneously, andtransported transluminally until positioned at a desired location. Thesedevices are then expanded either mechanically, such as by the expansionof a mandrel or balloon positioned inside the device, or expandthemselves by releasing stored energy upon actuation within the body.Once expanded within the lumen, these devices, called stents, becomeencapsulated within the body tissue and remain a permanent implant.

Known stent designs include monofilament wire coil stents (U.S. Pat. No.4,969,458); welded metal cages (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,733,665 and 4,776,337);and, most prominently, thin-walled metal cylinders with axial slotsformed around the circumference (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,733,665; 4,739,762;and 4,776,337). Known construction materials for use in stents includepolymers, organic fabrics and biocompatible metals, such as, stainlesssteel, gold, silver, tantalum, titanium, and shape memory alloys such asNitinol.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,733,665; 4,739,762; and 4,776,337 disclose expandableand deformable interluminal vascular grafts in the form of thin-walledtubular members with axial slots allowing the members to be expandedradially outwardly into contact with a body passageway. After insertion,the tubular members are mechanically expanded beyond their elastic limitand thus permanently fixed within the body. U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,210discloses a thin-walled tubular stent geometrically similar to thosediscussed above, but constructed of a nickel-titanium shape memory alloy(“Nitinol”), which can be permanently fixed within the body withoutexceeding its elastic limit. All of these stents share a critical designproperty: in each design, the features that undergo permanentdeformation during stent expansion are prismatic, i.e., the crosssections of these features remain constant or change very graduallyalong their entire active length. These prismatic structures are ideallysuited to providing large amounts of elastic deformation beforepermanent deformation commences, which in turn leads to sub-optimaldevice performance in important properties including stent expansionforce, stent recoil, strut element stability, stent securement ondelivery catheters and radiopacity.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,762 which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, discloses a non-prismatic stent design which remedies theabove mentioned performance deficiencies of previous stents. Inaddition, preferred embodiments of this patent provide a stent withlarge, non-deforming strut and link elements, which can contain holeswithout compromising the mechanical properties of the strut or linkelements, or the device as a whole. Further, these holes may serve aslarge, protected reservoirs for delivering various beneficial agents tothe device implantation site.

Of the many problems that may be addressed through stent-based localdelivery of beneficial agents, one of the most important is restenosis.Restenosis is a major complication that can arise following vascularinterventions such as angioplasty and the implantation of stents. Simplydefined, restenosis is a wound healing process that reduces the vessellumen diameter by extracellular matrix deposition and vascular smoothmuscle cell proliferation and which may ultimately result in renarrowingor even reocclusion of the lumen. Despite the introduction of improvedsurgical techniques, devices and pharmaceutical agents, the overallrestenosis rate is still reported in the range of 25% to 50% within sixto twelve months after an angioplasty procedure. To treat thiscondition, additional revascularization procedures are frequentlyrequired, thereby increasing trauma and risk to the patient.

Several techniques under development to address the problem ofrestenosis are irradiation of the injury site and the use ofconventional stents to deliver a variety of beneficial or pharmaceuticalagents to the traumatized vessel lumen. In the latter case, aconventional stent is frequently surface-coated with a beneficial agent(often a drug-impregnated polymer) and implanted at the angioplastysite. Alternatively, an external drug-impregnated polymer sheath ismounted over the stent and co-deployed in the vessel.

While acute outcomes from radiation therapies appeared promisinginitially, long term beneficial outcomes have been limited to restenosisoccurring within a previously implanted stent, so-called ‘in-stent’restenosis. Radiation therapies have not been effective for preventingrestenosis in de novo lesions. Polymer sheaths that span stent strutshave also proven problematic in human clinical trials due to the dangerof blocking flow to branch arteries, incomplete apposition of stentstruts to arterial walls and other problems. Unacceptably high levels ofMACE (Major Adverse Cardiac Events that include death, heart attack, orthe need for a repeat angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery)have resulted in early termination of clinical trials for sheath coveredstents.

Conventional stents with surface coatings of varius beneficial agents,by contrast, have shown promising early results. U.S. Pat. No.5,716,981, for example, discloses a stent that is surface-coated with acomposition comprising a polymer carrier and paclitaxel (a well-knowncompound that is commonly used in the treatment of cancerous tumors).The patent offers detailed descriptions of methods for coating stentsurfaces, such as spraying and dipping, as well as the desired characterof the coating itself: it should “coat the stent smoothly and evenly”and “provide a uniform, predictable, prolonged release of theanti-angiogenic factor.” Surface coatings, however, can provide littleactual control over the release kinetics of beneficial agents. Thesecoatings are necessarily very thin, typically 5 to 8 microns deep. Thesurface area of the stent, by comparison is very large, so that theentire volume of the beneficial agent has a very short diffusion path todischarge into the surrounding tissue. The resulting cumulative drugrelease profile is characterized by a large initial burst, followed by arapid approach to an asymptote, rather than the desired “uniform,prolonged release,” or linear release.

Increasing the thickness of the surface coating has the beneficialeffects of improving drug release kinetics including the ability tocontrol drug release and to allow increased drug loading. However, theincreased coating thickness results in increased overall thickness ofthe stent wall. This is undesirable for a number of reasons, includingincreased trauma to the vessel lumen during implantation, reduced flowcross-section of the lumen after implantation and increasedvulnerability of the coating to mechanical failure or damage duringexpansion and implantation. Coating thickness is one of several factorsthat affect the release kinetics of the beneficial agent, andlimitations on thickness thereby limit the range of release rates,durations, and the like that can be achieved.

Recent research described in a paper titled “Physiological TransportForces Govern Drug Distribution for Stent-Based Delivery” by Chao-WeiHwang et al. has revealed an important interrelationship between thespatial and temporal drug distribution properties of drug elutingstents, and cellular drug transport mechanisms. In pursuit of enhancedmechanical performance and structural properties stent designs haveevolved to more complex geometries with inherent inhomogeneity in thecircumferential and longitudinal distribution of stent struts. Examplesof this trend are the typical commercially available stents which expandto a roughly diamond or hexagonal shape when deployed in a bodily lumen.Both have been used to deliver a beneficial agent in the form of asurface coating. Studies have shown that lumen tissue portionsimmediately adjacent to the struts acquire much higher concentrations ofdrug than more remote tissue portions, such as those located in themiddle of the “diamond” shaped strut cells. Significantly, thisconcentration gradient of drug within the lumen wall remains higher overtime for hydrophobic beneficial agents, such as paclitaxel or rapamycin,which have proven to be the most effective anti-proliferatives to date.Because local drug concentrations and gradients are inextricably linkedto biological effect, the initial spatial distribution of the beneficialagent sources (the stent struts) is key to efficacy.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,120 discloses an expandable device comprising twogroups of deformable elements. The first groups comprise a cylindricalarrays of generally parallel struts connected at alternating strut ends,or junctions, which accommodate radial (circumferential) expansion ofthe device. Even and odd first groups of struts are specified such thatodd first groups are shifted circumferentially so as to be “180° degreesout of phase” with even first groups, i.e., with strut junctions of evenfirst groups directly opposed to strut junctions of odd first groups.The second groups of elements are generally flexible bridging elementsthat connect the junctions of even and odd first groups. Thisconfiguration gives rise to the common “diamond” pattern of struts instent expansion. One frequently used index of the distance of the mostdistant lumen tissue portions from the nearest drug-eluting element isthe “inscribed circle.” This is simply the largest circle that can beinscribed in the open cell area bordered by a given set of strutelements, for example, the largest circle that could be inscribed in thediamond pattern cell described above. Smaller inscribed circles,indicating shorter drug diffusion paths and correspondingly lowerconcentration variations, are more desirable.

A central feature of U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,120 is that the bridgingelements (second group elements) are configured to expand along thelongitudinal axis of the device to compensate for the longitudinalcontraction that occurs in the first groups of struts when the device isexpanded radially, so that the device does not undergo overalllongitudinal contraction during radial expansion. This property of thedevice leads to further inhomogeneity in the spatial distribution of thebeneficial agent. The bridging elements generally have a substantiallysmaller width (for flexibility) than the first groups of struts, andhave a correspondingly smaller surface area for conveying beneficialagents in the form of coatings. During device expansion the even and oddfirst groups of struts, with their relatively high surface area,contract longitudinally, further concentrating drug in smaller annularslices of tissue. Conversely, the low surface area bridging elementsexpand longitudinally during expansion, effectively reducing the amountof beneficial agent deliver at the larger annular slices of tissueadjacent the bridging elements. The net effect of the longitudinallycontracting first group of struts and longitudinally expanding bridgingelements is to increase tissue concentration variations of thebeneficial agent.

It would be desirable to provide a stent structure with smallerinscribed circles and corresponding lower beneficial agent concentrationvariations. It would also be desirable to provide a stent structure withmore even beneficial agent concentration distributions between stentstruts and bridging elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, it would be advantageous toprovide a stent capable of delivering a relatively large volume of abeneficial agent to a traumatized site in a vessel lumen while avoidingthe numerous problems associated with surface coatings containingbeneficial agents, without increasing the effective wall thickness ofthe stent, and without adversely impacting the mechanical expansionproperties of the stent.

It would further be advantageous to have a tissue supporting devicewhich improves the spatial distribution of beneficial agents in lumentissue by decreasing the mean and maximum distances between lumen tissueportions and agent-eluting elements of the device, while staying withinthe desirable range of ratios of device area to lumen tissue area andallowing side branch perfusion.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an expandable medicaldevice includes a plurality of elongated struts, the plurality ofelongated struts joined together to form a substantially cylindricaldevice which is expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to acylinder having a second diameter, wherein adjacent ones of theplurality of elongated struts are substantially parallel when thecylinder is at the first diameter and the adjacent elongated struts formV-shapes when the cylinder is at the second diameter, and a plurality ofpivots joining the plurality of struts together in the substantiallycylindrical device, wherein only one pivot interconnects each twoadjacent elongated struts and the pivots are each located offset from aline bisecting the V-shapes formed by the elongated struts when thecylinder is at the second diameter.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, anexpandable medical device includes a plurality of elongated struts, theplurality of elongated struts joined together to form a substantiallycylindrical device which is expandable from a cylinder having a firstdiameter to a cylinder having a second diameter, wherein adjacent onesof the plurality of elongated struts are substantially parallel when thecylinder is at the first diameter and the adjacent elongated struts formV-shapes when the cylinder is at the second diameter, and a plurality ofductile hinges connecting the plurality of struts together in thesubstantially cylindrical device, wherein only one ductile hingeinterconnects each two adjacent elongated struts and the ductile hingesare each located offset from a line bisecting the V-shapes formed by theelongated struts when the cylinder is at the second diameter, theductile hinges having a hinge width which is smaller than a strut widthsuch that as the device is expanded from the first diameter to thesecond diameter the ductile hinges experience plastic deformation whilethe struts are not plastically deformed.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, anexpandable medical device includes a plurality of cylindrical memberswhich are expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to acylinder having a second diameter, each of the plurality of cylindricalmembers comprising a plurality of L-shaped struts and a plurality ofductile hinges, wherein each of the plurality of L-shaped struts isjoined to an adjacent L-shaped strut by a ductile hinge, and wherein awidth of the ductile hinges is smaller than a width of the L-shapedstruts such that as the plurality of cylindrical members are expandedfrom the first diameter to the second diameter the ductile hingesexperience plastic deformation while the L-shaped struts are notplastically deformed and a plurality of bridging members connecting theL-shaped struts of adjacent cylindrical members to form an expandabledevice configured for radial expansion while a longitudinal distancebetween ends of the plurality of cylindrical members does not increase.

In accordance with an additional aspect of the present invention, anexpandable medical device includes a plurality of struts each having along leg, a short leg connected to the long leg, and a connecting point,wherein the long leg has a length longer than a length of the short leg,a plurality of pivots joining the long leg of one strut to the short legof an adjacent strut to form a substantially cylindrical device which isexpandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder havinga second diameter, wherein as the substantially cylindrical device isexpanded from the first diameter to the second diameter the pivots bend,and a plurality of bridging members connected to the connecting pointsof struts in one row and to the connecting points of struts in anadjacent row to form an expandable device configured such that a totallength of the bridging members remains substantially constant duringradial expansion.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, anexpandable medical device includes a plurality of elongated struts, theplurality of elongated struts joined together by pivoting connections toform a substantially cylindrical device which is expandable from acylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter,wherein adjacent ones of the plurality of elongated struts aresubstantially parallel when the cylinder is at the first diameter andthe adjacent elongated struts form a plurality of substantiallyparallelogram shapes when the cylinder is at the second diameter.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, anexpandable medical device for delivery of a beneficial agent includes aplurality of elongated struts, the plurality of elongated struts joinedtogether by pivoting connections to form a substantially cylindricaldevice which is expandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to acylinder having a second diameter, wherein adjacent ones of theplurality of elongated struts are substantially parallel when thecylinder is at the first diameter and the adjacent elongated struts forma plurality of substantially parallelogram shapes when the cylinder isat the second diameter, and a beneficial agent affixed to the pluralityof struts for delivery to tissue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich like elements bear like reference numerals, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a prior art tissue-supporting device;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of a portion of tissue-supporting devicein accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a portion of the device of FIG. 2 inan unexpanded configuration;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a portion of the device of FIG. 2 ina partially expanded configuration;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a portion of the device of FIG. 2 ina fully expanded configuration;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged side view of a portion of a tissue supportingdevice in a partially expanded configuration;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the change in longitudinal length of the long legof the L-shaped strut element during radial expansion;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the change in longitudinal length of the shortleg of the L-shaped strut element during radial expansion;

FIG. 9 is a simple moment diagram showing the variation in a bend momentalong the horizontal axis of a strut and ductile hinge;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged side view of a portion of an expanded deviceaccording to the present invention having a constant width ductilehinge; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged side view of a portion of an unexpanded deviceaccording to the present invention having a tapered ductile hinge.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of a cylindrical tissue supporting device10 according to the present invention which improves the spatialdistribution of beneficial agent delivered to tissue by the tissuesupporting device. The tissue supporting device 10 includes a strutarrangement which decreases the mean and maximum distances between lumentissue portions and agent-eluting elements of the devices, while stayingwithin the desirable range of ratios of device area to lumen tissue areaand allowing side branch perfusion. The tissue supporting device 10achieves the improved spatial distribution with a strut arrangementwhich expands to substantially parallelogram shaped cells. The tissuesupporting device 10 is preferably provided with a beneficial agentloaded in a plurality of openings in the device. Alternatively, thebeneficial agent for delivery to the lumen tissue may be coated on thedevice 10.

The tissue supporting device 10 is shown in the Figures in an unrolledflat view of a portion of the device for ease of illustration. Thedevice 10 is preferably cut from a tube of material to form acylindrical expandable device. The tissue supporting device 10 includesa plurality of sections forming cylindrical tubes 12 connected bybridging elements 14. The bridging elements 14 allow the tissuesupporting device to bend axially when passing through the tortuous pathof the vasculature to the deployment site and allow the device to bendwhen necessary to match the curvature of a lumen to be supported. Eachof the cylindrical tubes 12 has a plurality of axial slots 16 extendingfrom each end surface of the cylindrical tube toward an opposite endsurface.

Formed between the slots 16 is a network of elongated struts 18.Preferably, the elongated struts 18 are L-shaped struts each having along leg 22 and a short leg 24. Each individual elongated strut 18 ispreferably linked to an adjacent strut through reduced sections calledductile hinges 20, one at each end, which act as stress/strainconcentration features. The ductile hinges 20 of the struts function ashinges in the cylindrical structure. The ductile hinges 20 arestress/strain concentration features designed to operate into theplastic deformation range of generally ductile materials. Such featuresare also commonly referred to as “Notch Hinges” or “Notch Springs” inultra-precision mechanism design, where they are used exclusively in theelastic range.

Although the elongated struts 18 have been shown as L-shaped, othershaped struts may also be used as long as the struts are connected tothe ductile hinges 20 and the bridging elements 18 with the same spatialarrangement. For example, struts having J-shapes or amorphous shapes mayalso be used.

With reference to the drawings and the discussion, the width of anyfeature is defined as its dimension in the circumferential direction ofthe cylinder. The length of any feature is defined as its dimension inthe axial direction of the cylinder. The thickness of any feature isdefined as the wall thickness of the cylinder.

The ductile hinges 20 may be symmetrical or asymmetric ductile hinges.The ductile hinges 20 essentially take the form of a small, prismaticstrut having a substantially constant cross section or a tapering crosssection, as will be discussed below. As the cylindrical tubes 12 areexpanded, bending or plastic deformation occurs in the ductile hinges20, and the elongated struts 18 are not plastically deformed.

The presence of the ductile hinges 20 allows all of the remainingfeatures in the tissue supporting device 10 to be increased in width orthe circumferentially oriented component of their respective rectangularmoments of inertia—thus greatly increasing the strength and rigidity ofthese features. The net result is that elastic, and then plasticdeformation commence and propagate in the ductile hinges 20 before otherstructural elements of the device undergo any significant elasticdeformation. The force required to expand the tissue supporting device10 becomes a function of the geometry of the ductile hinges 20, ratherthan the device structure as a whole, and arbitrarily small expansionforces can be specified by changing hinge geometry for virtually anymaterial wall thickness. The ability to increase the width and thicknessof the elongated struts 18 provides additional area and depth forproviding beneficial agent openings 30 containing a beneficial agent fordelivery to the tissue.

In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2, it is desirable to increase thewidth of the individual struts 18 between the ductile hinges 20 to themaximum width that is geometrically possible for a given diameter and agiven number of struts arrayed around that diameter. The only geometriclimitation on strut width is the minimum practical width of the slots 16which is about 0.002 inches (0.0508 mm) for laser machining. Lateralstiffness of the struts 18 increases as the cube of strut width, so thatrelatively small increases in strut width significantly increase strutstiffness. The net result of inserting ductile hinges 20 and increasingstrut width is that the struts 18 no longer act as flexible leafsprings, but act as essentially rigid struts between the ductile hinges.All radial expansion or compression of the cylindrical tissue supportingdevice 10 is accommodated by mechanical strain in the hinge features 20,and yield in the hinge commences at very small overall radial expansionor compression.

The ductile hinge 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 is exemplary of a preferredstructure that will function as a stress/strain concentrator. Many otherstress/strain concentrator configurations may also be used as theductile hinges in the present invention, as shown and described by wayof example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,762, the entire contents of which ishereby incorporated by reference. The geometric details of thestress/strain concentration features or ductile hinges 20 can be variedgreatly to tailor the exact mechanical expansion properties to thoserequired in a specific application.

As shown in FIGS. 2-6, at least one and more preferably a series ofopenings 30 are formed by laser drilling or any other means known to oneskilled in the art at intervals along a neutral axis of the struts 18.Similarly, at least one and preferably a series of openings 32 areformed at selected locations in the bridging elements 14, as shown inFIG. 6. Although the use of openings 30, 32 in both the struts 18 andbridging elements 14 is preferred, it should be clear to one skilled inthe art that openings could be formed in only one of the struts andbridging elements. In the illustrated embodiment, the openings 30, 32are circular, rectangular, and polygonal in nature and form openingsextending through the width of the tissue supporting device 10. Itshould be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that openings ofany geometrical shape or configuration could of course be used withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, theopenings 30, 32 may be in the form of recesses having a depth less thanthe thickness of the device.

The behavior of the struts 18 in bending is analogous to the behavior ofan I-beam or truss. The outer edges of the struts 18 correspond to theI-beam flange and carry the tensile and compressive stresses, whereasthe inner edges of the struts 18 correspond to the web of an I-beamwhich carries the shear and helps to prevent buckling and wrinkling ofthe faces. Since most of the bending load is carried by the outer edgesof the struts 18, a concentration of as much material as possible awayfrom the neutral axis results in the most efficient sections forresisting strut flexure. As a result, material can be judiciouslyremoved along the axis of the strut so as to form openings 30 withoutadversely impacting the strength and rigidity of the strut. Since thestruts 18 and portions of the bridging elements 14 containing openingsremain essentially rigid during stent expansion, the openings 30, 32 arealso non-deforming.

The openings 30, 32 in the struts 18 and the bridging elements 14 maypromote the healing of the intervention site by promoting regrowth ofthe endothelial cells. By providing the openings 30, 32 in the struts 18and the bridging elements 14, the cross section of the strut iseffectively reduced without decreasing the strength and integrity of thestrut, as described above. As a result, the overall distance acrosswhich endothelial cell regrowth must occur is also reduced toapproximately 0.0025-0.0035 inches, which is approximately one-half ofthe thickness of a conventional stent. It is further believed thatduring insertion of the expandable medical device, cells from theendothelial layer may be scraped from the inner wall of the lumen by theopenings 30, 32 and remain therein after implantation. The presence ofsuch endothelial cells would thus provide a basis for the healing of thelumen.

At least some of the openings 30, 32 are preferably loaded with anagent, most preferably a beneficial agent, for delivery to the lumen inwhich the tissue support device 10 is deployed.

The terms “agent” or “beneficial agent” as used herein are intended tohave the broadest possible interpretation and are used to include anytherapeutic agent or drug, as well as inactive agents such as barrierlayers or carrier layers. The terms “drug” and “therapeutic agent” areused interchangeably to refer to any therapeutically active substancethat is delivered to a bodily lumen of a living being to produce adesired, usually beneficial, effect. The present invention isparticularly well suited for the delivery of antiproliferatives(anti-restenosis agents) such as paclitaxel and rapamycin for example,and antithrombins such as heparin, for example. The beneficial agentincludes classical small molecular weight therapeutic agents commonlyreferred to as drugs including all classes of action as exemplified by,but not limited to: antiproliferatives, antithrombins, antiplatelet,antilipid, anti-inflammatory, and anti-angiogenic, vitamins, ACEinhibitors, vasoactive substances, antimitotics, metello-proteinaseinhibitors, NO donors, estradiols, and anti-sclerosing agents, alone orin combination. Beneficial agent also includes larger molecular weightsubstances with drug like effects on target tissue sometimes calledbiologic agents including but not limited to: peptides, lipids, proteindrugs, enzymes, oligonucleotides, ribozymes, genetic material, prions,virus, bacteria, and eucaryotic cells such as endothelial cells,monocyte/macrophages or vascular smooth muscle cells to name but a fewexamples. Other beneficial agents may include but not be limited tophysical agents such as microspheres, microbubbles, liposomes,radioactive isotopes, or agents activated by some other form of energysuch as light or ultrasonic energy, or by other circulating moleculesthat can be systemically administered.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2 can be further refinedby using Finite Element Analysis and other techniques to optimize thedeployment of the beneficial agent within the openings of the struts 18and bridging elements 14. Basically, the shape and location of theopenings 30, 32 can be modified to maximize the volume of the voidswhile preserving the relatively high strength and rigidity of the struts18 with respect to the ductile hinges 20. According to one preferredembodiment of the present invention, the openings have an area of atleast 5×10⁻⁶ square inches, and preferably at least 7×10⁻⁶ squareinches.

Examples of the ways in which the agent may be loaded in the openings30, 32 are described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/314,259, filed Aug. 20, 2001, and U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/948,989, filed on Sep. 7, 2001, both of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art “expanding cage” stent design. Thestent 110 includes a series of axial slots 112 formed in a cylindricaltube. Each axial row of slots 112 is displaced axially from the adjacentrow by approximately half the slot length providing a staggered slotarrangement. The material between the slots 112 forms a network of axialstruts 116 joined by short circumferential links 118.

The known prior art stents, as shown in FIG. 1 as well as the stents ofU.S. Pat. No. 6,241,762 expand into roughly diamond or hexagonal shapedcells. As described above, a measure of the distance from the stentelements or struts to the most distant tissue portions is the diameterof the inscribed circle which can be drawn between expanded stentelements. The size of the inscribed circles is similar for the stentshaving diamond or hexagonal shaped cells, given equal coverage ratios.The coverage ratio is defined as the ratio of the stent surface area tothe area of the lumen in which the stent is deployed. Clinicallypreferred coverage ratios are in the about 12% to about 20% range.

FIGS. 2-5 illustrate one example of an embodiment of the presentinvention that improves the spatial distribution of the beneficialagent. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged side view of this embodiment afterdevice expansion. The shape of the cells bordered by the stent struts 18and bridging elements 14 in this embodiment may be described ashelically oriented parallelograms. The adjacent struts 18 form rows ofalternately oriented “chevrons” or V-shapes when expanded. It can beshown that the inscribed circle for this arrangement is approximately40% smaller than inscribed circles for the diamond or hexagonal cells ofthe stents mentioned above, for similar coverage ratios. Thus, theparallelogram shaped expanded cell structure provides a very substantialimprovement in the spatial distribution of the beneficial agentdelivered by the struts 18 and bridging elements 14.

Further, this improved spatial distribution can be accomplished withoutthe longitudinal contraction of the beneficial agent bearing struts 18,and the corresponding longitudinal expansion of agent-poor bridgingelements 14, that characterizes the stents of U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,120.The improved spatial distribution of the struts achieves improvedspatial distribution of beneficial agent whether the agent is providedin the opening, in a coating, in both openings and a coating, orotherwise loaded in or on the device.

As shown in FIG. 2, it can be seen that a single ductile hinge 20 islocated at alternating ends of adjoining L-shaped struts 18. The centerof rotation between any pair of adjoining struts 18 is thus displacedfrom the axis bisecting the strut pair, and strut motion duringexpansion is more complex than that of the double hinged strutsdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,762. Basically, the L-shape struts 18on either side of a given ductile hinge 20 can be seen as rotating aboutan instant center that moves along a (circumferentially oriented)perpendicular bisector of the ductile hinge element. It should be notedthat while a ductile hinge 20 is the preferred method for accomplishingthis motion, any method which provided a pivoting action betweenadjoining L-shaped elements would be within the scope of this invention.

A simplified geometrical analysis of this motion of the struts uponstent expansion may be made with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8. Here l is thehorizontal length of the L-shaped strut 18 or the length of the long leg22 and f is the offset between the bottom of the strut and the instantcenter of rotation or roughly the length of the shorter leg 24 of theL-shaped strut 18. The initial position of the instant center isselected by specifying the initial position and curvature of the ductilehinge 20 and the circumferential width of the strut 18. As the deviceexpands, the long leg rotates away from the horizontal axis as shown bythe arrow A in FIG. 7, and the longitudinal component of long leg 22 ofthe strut 18 is decreased by the amount l(1−cos θ). Simultaneously,however, this length contraction is offset by the rotation of thevertical element f or the short leg 24. As shown in FIG. 8, the increasein the longitudinal component of the short leg 24 can be expressed asf(sin θ). For smaller values of θ, f(sin θ) changes more rapidly thanl(1−cos θ), with the result that the ratios of l to f or the ratios ofthe lengths of the long and short legs can be manipulated to give a netchange of zero in the longitudinal extent of the strut pair over a rangeof angles, but generally less than about 40°. This ratio can beexpressed as:

$\frac{l}{f} = \frac{\left( {\sin\;\theta} \right)}{\left( {1 - {\cos\;\theta}} \right)}$For example, an expansion angle of 37° and an l/f ratio of 2.99 wouldresult in net longitudinal contraction of zero. A preferred ratio of thelength of the long leg 22 to the length of the short leg is about 2:1 toabout 6:1.

Further advantage can be made of this zero contraction geometry byinverting the orientation of ductile hinges in adjacent groups ofstruts, as shown in the expansion sequence of FIGS. 3-5. In this“counter rotating” configuration, unique pairs of points can beidentified on adjacent strut groups (adjacent cylinders 12) for whichthe total distance between the point pairs remains essentially constantthroughout the device expansion sequence. If the struts 18 are connectedto the bridging elements 14 at these connecting points 40, the entiredevice deployment sequence can be thought of as the rotation of all theinterconnected strut 18 and bridging elements 14 about these connectingpoints 40. Since only rotation, and not expansion is now required of thebridging elements 14, the bridging elements themselves may be modifiedto include inflexible elements (small struts) that may containadditional beneficial-agent bearing reservoirs or openings 32, thusfurther improving the uniformity of beneficial agent delivery.

As shown in the expansion sequence of FIGS. 3-5, a longitudinal distanceX between the connecting points 40 on opposite ends of the bridgingelements 14 or between the cylindrical tubes 12 remains substantiallyconstant during expansion of the device 10. In addition, thelongitudinal length Y of the cylindrical tubes 12 also remainssubstantially constant during radial expansion.

The design criteria of ductile hinges for the preferred embodimentsdescribed above is different for the ductile hinges in the stentsdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,762. Since the total number of ductilehinges 20 in the present embodiment is generally reduced by half overthose in U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,762, while the total deflection to beaccommodated by the hinges remains the same, the length of individualhinges must generally be increased to keep material strains withinacceptable limits. If the width of the hinge is kept constant along theaxis of the hinge over this increased length, bending stresses andstrains are not evenly distributed through the hinge and bending is notuniform.

FIG. 9 shows two struts 18 of the present invention joined by a ductilehinge 50, with a simple moment diagram showing the variation in bendmoment along the horizontal axis of the strut 18 and the ductile hinge50 as bending in the hinge commences by application of the forces F. Itcan be seen that the bend moment applied to the hinge 50 increaseslinearly from left to right. The hinge develops significant curvature asthe device expands, with the result that the hinge is subjected to acomplex array of stresses comprising significant axial, shear, andbending stress components. These stresses vary in both magnitude anddirection as a function of hinge curvature. In general, bend moment willincrease toward a hinge end 44 connected to the short leg 24 at allcurvatures, while applied axial forces (i.e., the component of appliedforces aligned with the hinge axis) will increase toward the hinge end46 connected to the long leg 22. The result for a long hinge 50 ofconstant cross section is illustrated in FIG. 10, wherein it can be seenthat strain and peak stresses, and thus curvature, are concentrated inregion close to the hinge end 44, rather than uniformly distributedalong the entire length of the hinge.

One efficient hinge design for use in the present invention is one inwhich the hinge is uniformly strained along its entire axis. For thearray of applied stresses outlined above, this can be achieved byvarying the width of the hinge gradually along its axis to match theplastic moment of the hinge to the applied stresses at each hinge crosssection. FIG. 11 shows a straight tapered ductile hinge 20 in which thehinge width is increased from left to right or from the end adjacent thelong leg 22 to the end adjacent the short leg 24 of the strut 18, in alinear fashion. In a typical embodiment, a 0.010 inch long hinge mighttaper from about 0.0050 inch maximum width to about 0.0035 inch minimumwidth from one end to the other, resulting in a hinge taper of about0.15 inches per inch. Preferred embodiments will generally have tapersranging from about 0.1 to about 0.2 inches per inch.

Finite Element Analysis can be used to create optimized, non-lineartapers for specific strut/hinge geometries. For example, hinges may becreated with an initial curvature, as described in U.S. Pat. No.6,241,762 for certain applications. In this case, a hinge would bebounded by two curves, creating a non-linear taper, which wouldnevertheless fall within the same range of overall taper ratiosdescribed above.

While the invention has been described in detail with reference to thepreferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to one skilled in theart that various changes and modifications can be made and equivalentsemployed, without departing from the present invention.

1. An expandable medical device comprising: a plurality of substantiallycylindrical tissue supporting bodies which are each expandable from acylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder having a second diameter;a plurality of flexible bridging members connecting the substantiallycylindrical tissue supporting bodies to form an expandable device; and aplurality of openings formed in the flexible bridging members, theopenings containing a beneficial agent for delivery to tissue, whereinthe plurality of openings in the flexible bridging members aresubstantially undeformed during flexing of the bridging members.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the substantially cylindrical tissuesupporting bodies and the plurality of flexible bridging members areformed from a tube.
 3. The device of claim 2, wherein the substantiallycylindrical tissue supporting bodies are formed from a plurality ofstruts.
 4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a plurality ofsecond openings formed in the substantially cylindrical tissuesupporting bodies, the second openings containing a beneficial agent fordelivery to tissue.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality offlexible bridging members are configured such that a total length of theflexible bridging members remains substantially constant during radialexpansion.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein portions of the pluralityof flexible bridging members are configured to remain substantiallyparallel during expansion.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein theexpandable medical device is configured for radial expansion while anoverall length of the device remains substantially constant.
 8. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the openings are formed as recesses in theplurality of flexible bridging members.
 9. The device of claim 1,wherein the openings are through openings extending through theplurality of flexible bridging members in a radial direction.
 10. Thedevice of claim 9, wherein the openings are formed by laser drilling.11. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of flexible bridgingmembers include at least one flexible portion and at least one openingcontaining portion, and wherein a width of the opening containingportion is greater than a width of the flexible portion.
 12. The deviceof claim 11, wherein the opening containing portions are substantiallyundeformed when the plurality of cylindrical tissue supporting bodiesare expanded.
 13. The device of claim 11, wherein the plurality ofopenings have a largest dimension which is greater than the width of theat least one flexible portion.
 14. The device of claim 1, wherein theplurality of openings each have an area of at least 5×10⁻⁶ squareinches.
 15. An expandable medical device comprising: a plurality ofsubstantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies which are eachexpandable from a cylinder having a first diameter to a cylinder havinga second diameter; a plurality of flexible bridging members connectingthe substantially cylindrical tissue supporting bodies to form anexpandable device; a plurality of openings formed in the flexiblebridging members, the openings containing a beneficial agent fordelivery to tissue, wherein the plurality of flexible bridging membersinclude at least one flexible portion and at least one openingcontaining portion, wherein a width of the opening containing portion isgreater than a width of the flexible portion, and wherein the pluralityof openings have a largest dimension which is greater than the width ofthe at least one flexible portion.
 16. The device of claim 15, whereinthe opening containing portions are substantially undeformed when theplurality of cylindrical tissue supporting bodies are expanded.
 17. Thedevice of claim 15, wherein the openings are formed by laser drilling.18. The device of claim 15, wherein the openings are formed as recessesin the plurality of flexible bridging members.
 19. The device of claim15, wherein the openings are through openings extending through theplurality of flexible bridging members in a radial direction.
 20. Thedevice of claim 15, wherein the plurality of openings each have an areaof at least 5×10⁻⁶ square inches.